Linux Kernel up to 5.10.187/5.15.120/6.1.38/6.4.3 Port Dev Driver use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.187/5.15.120/6.1.38/6.4.3. This impacts an unknown function of the component Port Dev Driver. Executing a manipulation can lead to use after free. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2023-54083. There is not any exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.187/5.15.120/6.1.38/6.4.3 and classified as critical. This vulnerability affects some unknown functionality of the component Port Dev Driver. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: phy: tegra: xusb: Clear the driver reference in usb-phy dev For the dual-role port, it will assign the phy dev to usb-phy dev and use the port dev driver as the dev driver of usb-phy. When we try to destroy the port dev, it will destroy its dev driver as well. But we did not remove the reference from usb-phy dev. This might cause the use-after-free issue in KASAN.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2023-54083 since 12/24/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 01/02/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 279766 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54083), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 6.1.39 or 6.4.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch b6a107c52073496d2e5d2837915f59fb3103832f/b84998a407a882991916b1a61d987c400d8a0ce6/238edc04ddb9d272b38f5419bcd419ad3b92b91b/82187460347ad58fd6b06d2883da73c3f2df9631/c0c2fcb1325d0d4f3b322b5ee49385f8eca2560d is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (279766) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2929). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.187
• 5.15.120
• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.1.17
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.1.20
• 6.1.21
• 6.1.22
• 6.1.23
• 6.1.24
• 6.1.25
• 6.1.26
• 6.1.27
• 6.1.28
• 6.1.29
• 6.1.30
• 6.1.31
• 6.1.32
• 6.1.33
• 6.1.34
• 6.1.35
• 6.1.36
• 6.1.37
• 6.1.38
• 6.4.0
• 6.4.1
• 6.4.2
• 6.4.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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